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American Morning
House Call: Men Breast Cancer
Aired June 11, 2003 - 07:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news now, and it may surprise you to know that breast cancer can threaten the lives of men as well as women. That's our "House Call" today with Dr. Sanjay Gupta live at the CNN Center to take us through this edition.
Doctor -- good morning there.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Bill.
One of the most overlooked topics really in men's health is male breast cancer. This is something that's overlooked. The numbers are definitely small.
Take a look at male breast cancer versus female breast cancer in women, which we hear so much about a lot of that because of public service announcements. About 211,000 cases of women's breast cancer, and about 40,000 of those women will die because of the disease.
In men, the numbers, again, much smaller, about 1,500 men, and about 400 men will die. The percentage of men actually dying from breast cancer is higher in terms of the number who get it and the number who die versus women. And part of the reason is because it's often detected much later. Not surprising, given the fact that people just don't think about breast cancer in men very often.
Also, by the time that it is detected, if it is detected, it's often been much more invasive actually. Because the breast tissue is smaller there, the cancer has often gone further beyond the breast tissue and it obviously has a poor prognostic sign.
A lot of questions that people get about this sort of thing is, what do you look for? You know, obviously there's all sorts of different pains and aches that men can have in their chest region, but it would be a little different is there is actually a breast lump or swelling, if there is skin dimpling or puckering, or if the nipple is turning inward, those are sorts of signs that maybe make you think this could be something a little more than just some skin changes; also redness or scaling of the breast skin, nipple discharge or bleeding -- all of those things of concern.
Again, Bill, this can be a significant problem. We don't think about male breast cancer. It does make up less than 1 percent of all cancers, but in men, if there is breast cancer it's often found late and it's often found at a stage where it's often more deadly.
So, something to look out for.
Back to you -- Bill.
HEMMER: Certainly, Doctor, thank you much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 11, 2003 - 07:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news now, and it may surprise you to know that breast cancer can threaten the lives of men as well as women. That's our "House Call" today with Dr. Sanjay Gupta live at the CNN Center to take us through this edition.
Doctor -- good morning there.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Bill.
One of the most overlooked topics really in men's health is male breast cancer. This is something that's overlooked. The numbers are definitely small.
Take a look at male breast cancer versus female breast cancer in women, which we hear so much about a lot of that because of public service announcements. About 211,000 cases of women's breast cancer, and about 40,000 of those women will die because of the disease.
In men, the numbers, again, much smaller, about 1,500 men, and about 400 men will die. The percentage of men actually dying from breast cancer is higher in terms of the number who get it and the number who die versus women. And part of the reason is because it's often detected much later. Not surprising, given the fact that people just don't think about breast cancer in men very often.
Also, by the time that it is detected, if it is detected, it's often been much more invasive actually. Because the breast tissue is smaller there, the cancer has often gone further beyond the breast tissue and it obviously has a poor prognostic sign.
A lot of questions that people get about this sort of thing is, what do you look for? You know, obviously there's all sorts of different pains and aches that men can have in their chest region, but it would be a little different is there is actually a breast lump or swelling, if there is skin dimpling or puckering, or if the nipple is turning inward, those are sorts of signs that maybe make you think this could be something a little more than just some skin changes; also redness or scaling of the breast skin, nipple discharge or bleeding -- all of those things of concern.
Again, Bill, this can be a significant problem. We don't think about male breast cancer. It does make up less than 1 percent of all cancers, but in men, if there is breast cancer it's often found late and it's often found at a stage where it's often more deadly.
So, something to look out for.
Back to you -- Bill.
HEMMER: Certainly, Doctor, thank you much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
